8. REAL TIME
22:00. Despite the situation, I smiled inside as I donned my suit of armor, remembering our first meeting. Even Priss managed to be on time these days. The last six months had been a learning experience for all of us. For me, perhaps, more than anyone else.
Things had not been as simple as I had thought they would be. I had thought that I could just hire the people, train them, give them equipment, and then give them their orders, and that would be the end of it. I'd been so wrong.
It had been a shock when I'd realized I wouldn't be able to bring Genom to its knees without wreaking havoc in other areas. I was not about to injure the innocent in order to deal with the guilty.
But it had been a bigger shock to realize that I was becoming friends with the others. I hadn't wanted or needed this. My job was going to be hard enough without bringing friendship into it. I'd wanted to remain apart. I'd seen people die. I did not want to send friends into dangerous situations to die as well. But it was happening. And I couldn't stop it.
And then, perverse fate laid all my careful plans to rest. A group of boomers was tearing up the area around the convention center.
In my head, I knew we should not go. We needed something simple for our first time out. Something to build confidence in ourselves and our equipment. But my heart said we needed to do this. The area was usually crowded and it would take the AD Police at least thirty minutes to get there. We could be there in fifteen. If we didn't go, people were going to die.
I picked up my helmet from the shelf where it rested, and stared at my reflection in the visor, then shook my head to clear the mental driftwood. I had to be sharp now. I would not let them see any doubts.
As I walked from the storage area to the waiting Silky Doll truck, the perversity of it all struck me anew. Sylia Stingray, the "Ice Queen," leading her forces into battle because her heart said it was the right thing to do.
I had never been so scared in my life. I wanted to stay with Mackie and the truck. I could do the scans Sylia wanted from there.
I wanted to, but I couldn't. She said nothing would happen to us if we remembered our training. I remembered my training, all right. That was the problem. I'm not any good at this kind of thing.
Why did I let her drag me into this? I'd gotten involved because I was bored one night and that electronic ad was too tempting to let go. Later, I was afraid she'd go through with her threats. Now that I've been working with her for a while, I know she couldn't do it. I think.
"Romanova-san, are you ready to begin jamming?" Sylia's voice was so clear through the speakers, it was as if she was standing next to me. Of course, she was standing next to me, but that's beside the point. "It is important to block the communication signals between the individual boomers."
"All set, Sylia-san. I've got the frequency you gave me locked in. I'm ready to rock on your signal."
"Ready to rock, Nene-chan?" Priss. As usual. She didn't have to have her faceplate up for me to picture the mocking look on her face. "You just stay here, nice and safe on the roof, and leave the rocking to people who know how to do it."
"Asagiri-san, please, now is not the time," came Sylia's resigned voice. "All right, ladies, you know what to do. You have your assignments. Trust in your equipment, yourselves, and each other, and things will work out fine."
There was a long pause, and I thought I heard someone mumbling over the circuit. Isolating the signal, I realized it was bleed-over from one of the private channels. And the mumbling was Linna. Praying.
Before I could say anything, Sylia came back onto the group circuit. "Here we go. On my mark. Three. Two. One. Knight Sabers... Sanjou!"
As I began jamming, the three of them dived off the rooftop and into the conflagration below. After a few seconds I realized something was wrong. The jamming wasn't working. I increased the power, but it didn't help.
"Nene, are you jamming?" Sylia again. She sounded winded already.
I had to do something. The frequency was locked, I couldn't change it. But I had to... What if I...
...got caught? The AD Police database was heavily guarded by several layers of password security, not to mention their newly upgraded encryption system. If I did get caught, the punishment was rumored to be instant. No trial, no jury, just a painful death by neural feedback loop. Ick.
But I never thought about that. That kind of demise was only for the witless. I'd been into lotsa bases where the stakes were much higher, and I'd cut out with the same number of gray cells I had going in. They'd have to tweak their 'sniffers' to the max to catch me!
As I 'looked' out over the Net's matrix using my headset, shimmering beads of silver pulsed across the glowing pink lines of the grid; graphic representations of information as it flowed to and from the various gateways of the web. I loved to sit here in "L2 Land" and just watch the world go by, and guess where each packet was going. Nothing outside mattered. The last place on earth where someone could escape, and not see another single person unless they wanted to. A place to really get away from it all.
But there was no time for that now. I had spent the last few weeks 'rusing the AD Police database from a distance, and tonight it was time to make my incursion. My most trusted online advisor, "Ikegaki Grrl", had put me on to a rumor about something kicking over at AD HQ. Something crazy about AIs being used as guardians. Okayyyyyy. Of course, I had to see for myself. Nothing heavy, just a quick peel to see what all the fuss was about.
Twenty-four password check-points, eight levels of encryption, twelve fire-nodes and fifty-six router table stealth mods. Piece of cheese-cake. Yeah right! I was starting to break a sweat. So much for the quick peel. This onion had more skins than a snake! But the hard part was over. Or so I thought.
I had just jammed my foot in the front gate, when suddenly I was up to my synapses in AI sentinels, with more waiting in the cache! My cutters weren't working, and every virus I had initiated had been eaten alive in a matter of nanos by the sentinels. My retreat script didn't even see the dark of night! Ikegaki had been right; these AI 'thingys' were definitely kicking! For the first time in my 'career' I was in over my head. I had to act fast or I was going to join the deleted files of the witless.
"Relax Nene," I told myself. "You can pry yourself outta this one, but you have to relax and take a second to think. Just think..."
Think.
It was time to modify myself.
After a quick scan of the nearest AI, and an adjustment to my 'avatar's' appearance code, the sentinels abruptly backed off. That was my cue to cut. I could have loitered a bit, seeing as I now looked exactly like one of them, but I was in rough shape. Later.
Once I was back in "L2 Land", I could breathe again. The silver packets of data were still making their way across the grid as usual, and everything was calm. I had lots of time to think now. Time to think about what I had seen, and what new dangers I might have to face in the future...
...or the present.
I had to modify myself.
NOW!
Reroute my hardsuit's secondary power relay to the frequency stabilizer processor! Divert the jamming signal to my auxiliary comm transmitter! Crank the output! Unlock the frequency and reacquire!
...That's IT! Quick scan... got it! Now crosspatch, and then... and... YES!
"How is it now, Sylia?" I asked, trying to sound professionally cool.
"Whatever you've done, Nene, it's working. Keep it up."
Oh my god, they're so big. There's no way I can do this.
I ducked and spun away yet again as I tried to face off with the boomer target designated as mine. This just wasn't working. It was just too big, too fast.
I'm fine against people, situations I know. I thought I could handle this. I can't do this. It's too much.
Even if I could get close enough, I couldn't get my knuckle bombers primed to fire. I can't get the ribbons primed. If only I had time to concentrate!
I was panicking. I should get out of here, now, before I get killed. I couldn't call for help. They had their own problems.
This was crazy. Why had I agreed to this. The money isn't worth getting killed. Let the police do their job. I can't do their job for them. What did I think I was doing when I said 'yes'?
And in the half-second it took for those thoughts to flash through my mind, my opponent was on me again. I tried to dance away, tried to gain myself more time, but got caught instead.
I'm sure they heard me screaming in Yokohama when the boomer started pulling me in by my ribbon-cutters. Sylia did. "Linna! Linna, hang on! I'll be right there!"
I was out of time. This was it. I was dead.
The boomer raised its fist, about to turn my suit into a green splotch on the ground, when suddenly it was all clear to me. I knew what I had to do.
Forget what they are. Forget that they are not human. Clear your mind. Do not let them intimidate you. Stay focused on where you are and what you are doing. Stay focused. Stay... focused...
THUMP!
"No! You are not concentrating! Now, let's try for real this time."
Try for real, he says. Like I haven't been trying all this time. Fine, I'll show him 'for real'.
I picked myself up off the mat and attacked again, this time with fire in my heart.
It wasn't long before I ended up on the mat, face down, again.
"Linna... what was that? Were you angry?"
Slowly, I picked myself up again, this time foregoing another attack to address my master's question.
"No... well, yes. I guess I was... upset."
"Ah," was all he said in response.
"But how can I not be angry," I shot back, "if you keep defeating me? How am I supposed to learn anything this way?"
He turned away from me for a moment to consider my question. Bright sunlight flooded in through the wide doorway to the dojo, casting long shadows on the floor, while the songs of small birds just outside the door caught my ear. My heart was still pounding in my chest from the workout.
"Linna..." he began, "Do you hear the wind?" he asked, his voice taking on a whimsical tone.
For a moment, I closed my eyes and listened carefully, and I could hear the swish of the wind as a warm summer breeze swept through the trees outside.
"Yes," I replied.
"Mmm. And do you see the shadows at my feet?"
My eyes immediately locked onto his feet, the long shadows of afternoon stretching from his feet across the worn wooden floor. "Yes, I do. But--"
"And--" he said, cutting me off sharply, "do you hear the birds outside, Linna? Do you hear their songs?"
Again I closed my eyes to listen...
"Linna!"
I opened my eyes abruptly to see my master now standing inches away, and directly in front of me. "Wha?" was all I could say, in a trembling voice.
"Linna, what are you doing?" he said, his voice now very serious.
"I... I'm list-- I was-- listening."
"Why?"
"Because you--"
"Because I told you to?"
I nodded, not really sure if that was the right answer.
"Linna." He smiled, and stepped back from me. "Are you here to listen to the wind?"
"Uh, I don't think so. But--"
"Correct Linna. You are not. All of the things going on around you must disappear. They must vanish while you are here. Forget them. All that matters is what is going on right now, right here."
Hmmm.
"When you are faced with an opponent, do not think about how big they are, or how strong they look. Do not think, period. Do not dwell on things like anger, fear or hate. You must focus on defending yourself. That is all that matters." He paused to let his words sink in a bit. "Now Linna. Are you ready to try again?"
Do not think. Period. Stay focused. Period. Okay, I think I can handle that. "Sure," I replied.
He smiled again and stepped back to his side of the mat, then assumed the ready stance. "Ready?"
I nodded, my own hands raised in front of me, and my eyes narrowed as my body filled with a new enthusiasm to learn.
His smile vanished. "Begin!"
Circling. Searching for the opening. There! No, too slow. Circle back. Strike high! Block the counter! Break the hold! Free. Drop and leg sweep. Gah! Missed. Back on your feet quickly! Circle again... focus. Stay focused Linna. Don't let anything else enter your mind. Your mind must be empty of any other-- Block! Block again! Too fast!
THUMP!
Dammit.
My anger came flooding back to me, but as I lay there resting, my anger faded, and I could hear the wind, and the songs of the birds outside. As I turned over onto my back, I could see the shadows from my Master's feet as he stood over me with his hand extended to help me up.
"Ya know something?" I asked, as I continued to lay there on my back, ignoring his hand.
"What's that?" he replied slowly.
"I can hear the birds, and I can hear the wind. But, for some strange reason, I can't see your shadow anymore Master."
He looked down at his feet momentarily. Just long enough.
THUMP!...
...I looked into the glowing red eyes of the boomer before me, it's right fist raised high, ready to crush me. I moved on pure instinct at that moment, my mind suddenly freed of the danger I faced. A quick blast of my hard-suit's jets shot me up and over the stunned boomer as I commenced the knuckle bomber's power-up. Upon landing, I quickly bent down to pick up a chunk of asphalt that had been ground up underneath the boomer's metallic feet. The boomer spun to face me, just as I tossed the chunk of rock behind it. It turned away for a split- second to follow the harmless projectile with its sensors, as my knuckle bomber completed its charge.
Long enough.
Goddammit, you goddamn mothersuckingfucker, DIE YOU SONUFABITCH!
The boomer exploded as it crashed to the ground, and it wasn't enough. I hate those things. I hate anything to do with them.
"Look out, Priss!" someone warned, and I spun around. Another was coming up from behind. I leaped over a burning car and I ran to meet it.
Sylia wants us to take them out as fast as possible. Fast is too good for them, but it's the only way I can kill as many as I can.
I cocked my arm back to punch through, dimly hearing someone yelling about ranged weapons. Piss on ranged weapons. I want to get close. I want to kill them with my bare hands. I want to tear them apart and watch them bleed. I want to do the same thing with their monsters. I want them to burn. I want them to die die die die diediediediediediediediedi...
"Get up, Priss."
Unn...
"Come on, Priss. You're on my arm. Get up."
Umm... "H... Hiro?"
"Who else would it be?" I opened my eyes, and looked into his beautiful brown ones. "You'd better not be thinking of Taki," he growled.
"And if I am?" It was hard to not laugh at the look on his face then. I leaned forward and kissed the end of his nose. "You know there's nothing going on between Taki and me."
He smiled back. I love his smile too. "Priss, I've got to get up now, but if you don't get off my arm we may stay here all night too."
"Fine by me!" I kissed him again, putting a bit more into it this time. He wrapped his other arm around me and rolled me on top. Unfortunately, this freed his arm up, and when he finished the roll, with me back on my back, he sat up and got up off the mattress.
"Keep that thought," he said, pulling on the clothes he'd left on the floor that afternoon. "I'll be back in a little bit."
"Where are you going?" I asked as I got up and began getting into my own yellow and black leathers.
"Remember those data disks that were in the car Kumi took the other day?" I nodded that I remembered, and he went on. "I finally got a look at what was on them. I'm no techie, but it looks like those guys over at Genom are up to something again." Genom? "Toshi made contact with them, and we're doing an exchange in a couple hours."
He turned around, pulling his jacket on, and smiled at me. "We're going to really make out on this, Priss. Plenty for you and me and everyone else. All the bikes we'd ever want, and a record contract for you. Just think, nothing to do all day but ride. Just you and me, babe."
"Hiro, are you sure about this? You know the rumors..."
"Not a problem. It's all set." He stood there for a minute, watching me look at him, then stepped up and gathered me into his big, strong arms. "You can't go with me to the exchange," he whispered, "but there's still a couple hours yet. How about we go for a ride?"
I kissed his neck as my answer, and led him out of the room.
The ride was wonderful. It was a cool night, not too much traffic. For long stretches, we were the only ones on the road.
Hiro and I started racing down these open stretches, just enjoying testing our bikes and ourselves. Enjoying being together. Then this car came up behind us.
He blew past me and got on Hiro's back wheel. Hiro started racing in earnest, trying to get away, and the car stuck with him. I'm good, but they pulled out so far ahead that I couldn't keep up, couldn't see what was going on.
A couple minutes later I saw the car far ahead of me. As I closed, I saw someone get in the back and the car pulled away.
And when I got closer, I saw the wreck at the side of the road.
"HIRO!"
I was off my bike before it was slowed, running for Hiro. Blood was splattered everywhere, like someone had filled a balloon with red dye and dropped it to the pavement..
I dropped to my knees and took his limp body in my arms. "Hiro, talk to me. C'mon, say something. Don't do this to me, I need you."
It couldn't have been very long, but it seemed like years before the cops showed up. I was still there, still talking to Hiro, my hero, trying to get him to open his eyes. "Hiro, you can't do this to me, what am I going to do without you, I love you, I need you, come on Hiro, open your eyes, please Hiro, please..."
"Miss." Something touched my shoulder, and I looked up into the face of a young cop, wearing body armor and sun glasses.
I looked back at Hiro. "Go away."
He tried again. "Please Miss, you have to get up now."
"No!" I lashed out at him with my arm...
...and it was caught out of mid-air.
"It's me, Priss. Calm down." Who was... the whump of an explosion, nearby, interrupted my already confused thoughts. I started to roll onto my back, with an assist from whoever had caught my arm. A figure in white armor swam into view, kneeling at my side.
"Linna, if you're finished, I could use your help with Priss." I groaned. The noises coming over the communication channel pounded through my already aching head.
"Sure, what's wrong?" Linna came up beside Sylia and took my other arm.
"She's a little disoriented; I think that blow to the head was worse than we thought."
"Leave me alone," I muttered as I shook their hands off me and tried to get up.
Nene dropped down beside them. "Oh, come on Priss, you're hurt. Don't try to be a hero all the time."